Poll: Weed - Legal or Illegal?

[twistedmic]

I say legalize it, purely from a money earning point of view. Legalize marijuana, standardize it and tax it. And of course pass laws governing it's distribution and consumption, make a legal age to buy it (18 or 21) and make it illegal to operate any form of machinery (power tools, electric and gas powered) while under the influence and designate certain areas where smokers can toke up. Essentially combine alcohol and tobacco laws in regards to marijuana.
Sure, you'll have some fuck-wits that will drive while high, or do stupid shit with power tools or guns while high and get themselves killed, but that's going to happen regardless of whether or not marijuana is legal.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

Personally, I hate pot. I have seen what it does to people, and want nothing to do with it.

That being said, I think it should be legal, under some provisions that will protect people who don?t smoke. If someone who works for me shows up high, or smelling like pot, I should be able to fire him, on the spot, without having to give him a warning.

Besides, my misanthropic side wants others to use it, perhaps not do as well as me, so I stand out by example.

I've very similar thoughts to yourself. Only, given your proposed working scenario, I'd simply treat the individual in question, as though they had shown up wasted on alcohol.

I would require something in the employment agreement that says they would not show up to work high.

OT: I do hate hearing about the "medical use" agrument. You want to get high, so stop pretending like weed is some "cure all" drug. I would respect them a lot more were they honest.

 

[Mr. Eff_v1legacy]

Never smoked it, don't plan on it, and don't necessarily agree with its use. But I think legalization - or decriminalization at least - makes sense.

 

[The_Yeti]

Pot should totally be legalized, right after they legalize the justified murder of potheads, crack addicts, people purposely wearing their shorts/pants below the ass, and those extremely annoying westboro church assholes - by civilians as well as armed forces, hooah!

 

[theriddlen]

Legalize, but with law restrictions regulating the amount of it one can carry and buy per month. Also, 21y limit.

Oh, and lower the alcohol age restriction to 18y in the US. Whole world is laughing at you.

 

[Bon_Clay]

Legalize weed completely, decriminalize all other drugs.

I mean, for fuck's sake. You'd think we'd have learned from prohibition.

Exactly the right idea. This should be done right away. I don't like weed myself personally, but the facts are it should be legalized.

By saying it is illegal you are taking away people's right to do something. This is fine if there is justification and if the law does something. Murder being illegal is a good idea. But otherwise you should keep as many rights people can possibly have as the default.

Even if weed were somehow evil, the law is useless. Its ridiculously easy to get a hold of it. Anyone who wants it, legal or not, will get it. So the way people are going about it is wrong if they want to do anything. I've seen people get higher jail sentences for having weed in American than for rape cases.

It doesn't matter if you think its bad or a stupid idea, that's your opinion and not the bases for laws. People should be free to do whatever they want with their life if it doesn't hurt anyone else. And smoking weed in and of itself doesn't effect anyone else. Especially not anymore than alcohol.

Legalize it and tax it. Aside from tax money coming in you'll also save MILLIONS a year on paying for people to be in jail for drug offenses.

 

[Gennadios]

Probably belongs in the Religion and Politics forum...

As long as you can still fire people on the spot for coming to work stoned then I do not care.
Sure it has long term side effects and totally destroys your memory but eh, thats your problem.

Pretty much this. Decriminalize it if you want, but don't ask me for a job if you're a constant user.

I foresee a severe shortage of auto mechanics and convenience store clerks.

I vote keep it illegal. I don't want more 'stoners' driving.

You do realize that something can be legalized while driving under the influence of it can remain illegal, right? There's this little thing called alcohol that can serve as a case in point.

 

[woots7]

Ban alcohol and legalize marijuana, no more bar fights or drunk driver, just some hippy's hugging trees and handing out flowers.

amen

 

[Hashime]

Illegal. I am not a fan of tobacco or alcohol either.

 

[delvin313]

Legal - though I won't touch the stuff myself, its a waste of time to prosecute potheads when the justice system can be working on more important things.

 

[SonicKoala]

**Note: I live in Vancouver, Canada, although I'm sure what I'm saying could apply to other parts of the world.

I don't see why we shouldn't legalize marijuana - it could potentially serve as a lucrative source of tax dollars for the government (just as alcohol is now) which they could then put towards things like education and health care (or at least I'd HOPE they'd put it towards that).

Furthermore, one of the central roots of gang violence where I live is the drug trade, marijuana being the most lucrative for these gangs. I'm not sure what year it was, but at one point a few years ago, marijuana was B.C.'s single largest export. In my opinion, it seems like an easy choice to make - as to why it has yet to be made, I really can't say, but I'm most certainly for legalization.

 

[gphjr14]

All drugs should be legal.
It's a matter of principles not wheter it's beneficial to society or not (and I really don't think it would make any lasting significant difference in the rates of consumption).

Trust me having worked at a hospital for almost 3 years, some drugs are better off illegal.
Imagine if there was a child playing or something and for whatever reason he struck the child instead of that fence. Not all drugs make you slouch in a state of euphoria, some of them make you paranoid and you can hurt other people including yourself. I really don't see why marijuana is illegal given it was only banned because some guy was afraid hemp would overcome the timber industry. Since alcohol and tobacco are legal it might as well be, and I feel as the older generation is replaced by a more socially liberal one it'll eventually be accepted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjSjgsonUvE

 

[Serge A. Storms]

Legalize it, I drive better when I'm stoned.

I mean, civil rights and all that, also it's weed, no one ruins their life for weed unless it was already going downhill.

 

[Pyode]

Think of the Pros and Cons for Weed:

Pros
Weed can help someone function better in school
A lot of money would be saved since you wouldn't have to buy it from doctors
Weed can benefit studies for advancing research, see if anything can be made from it
Growing it can help pay off families while giving it to medical centers who need it

I'll add a few if you don't mind...

The government can tax it
Billions of dollars saved on the court system, the prison system, and the elimination of the "War on Drugs"
A massive financial blow to the South American cartels and the North American street gangs.

I also want to point out some problems with your "Cons" list...

Cons
Teens can easily get a hold of it now and pay less for weed alone

Teens already have absolutely no problem getting it what-so-ever and it's not that expensive.

Some people will abuse it to just get high and it can be a downfall to their lives

True, but no more then already do that with alcohol and at least you won't have the violence that alcohol can cause.

Weed is addictive, and without it many would be unable to function right anymore (not for awhile at least)

Weed is in no way chemically addictive. You can only become addicted to it in the same way you can become addicted to sex, alcohol, or even video games. In which case it's something that is already wrong with the person, not the substance.

Weed would rise problems with bad cities or streets, relating to gang violence

The only reason gangs are involved with drug trafficking is because it's illegal. Make it legal and gangs will have one less thing to fight over. This is exactly what happened with prohibition and the Mafia.

I don't mean to attack you, I just think it's important to clear up these misconceptions about drug laws.

OT:
In case you didn't get it from my response to Ryan, I am for, not only the legalization of Weed, but at least for the decriminalization of all other narcotics.